24-Month Pictures

 

 

See my Trim Healthy Mama Before & After Photos page to view all before and after photos of my THM journey.

In the interest of comparison, I whipped out the clothing I took my before pictures in and tried it out.  Here’s how that went.  The after pics are a little deceptive because under the shirt, the pants are literally HANGING on my hips and not on my waist at all!

And then for some more fun, I got out the jeans that fit me when I started.  They are a size 22W, and I was known to sometimes wear a 24W.  In October 2015 they fit my waist snug but not tight.  I’m not a fan of tight jeans.  Here’s how they, ahem, “fit” now.  In the middle pic, I was trying very hard not to move because they would have ended up on the floor.

    

One more picture, just for reference.  This is me at my wedding reception 19 years ago (that baby I’m dancing with is my husband’s niece and now a sophomore in college!).  I include it here because I believe that we need to keep in mind where we are coming from in order to be realistic about where we are going.  I was not always “fluffy”.  I became fluffy during pregnancies, rounds of prednisone, and a very sedentary lifestyle.  In the picture below, I was probably 125-130 pounds and wore something like a size 10 jeans (I’m short and tend to be “thick” in the middle and have hips).  Today, I weigh 140-ish pounds and wear that same size jeans.  My point is, if you’ve been overweight all your life, you’re probably not going to become supermodel thin.  And, even if you weigh more than you’d like to see on the scale, you may end up being a smaller clothing size than you were in your younger years.  I can’t even explain it.  The muscle vs. fat thing would be a valid theory, IF I was doing strength training exercise but I’m not.  I jog a measly 30 minutes, 3 times a week–which is aerobic so it’s not building that much muscle.

STATS

10/23/15

10/23/16

11/23/16

12/23/16

1/23/17

2/23/17

3/23/17

4/23/17

5/23/17

6/23/17

7/23/17

8/23/17

9/23/17

10/23/17

Weight

220

157.6

154.6

152.8

151

149.6

148.2

146

145.6

143.6

143.2

141.6

139.6

139.6

Bust

47.75″

40.5″

40.25″

39.5″

39.25″

39.25″

39.25″

39.25″

39.5″

39″

39″

39″

39″

38.5″

Waist

47″

37.25″

36.75″

36.5″

36″

36″

36″

35.75″

35.5″

35.25″

35″

34.5″

35″

35″

Hips

51.5″

40″

39.75″

39.5″

39″

39″

39″

38.75″

38.5″

38.5″

38.5″

38.5″

38.25″

38″

See my Trim Healthy Mama Stats page to see all monthly measurements of my THM journey.

What I’m Thinking

So here I am.  Two years eating Trim Healthy Mama style.  Time flies.  I will honestly say, it hasn’t been hard at all.  However, I will also honestly say that I know God had a hand in this because I don’t do stuff like this.  I’m human.  I like comfort, convenience, and carbs.  As I have said in posts before, when the going gets tough, I’m the first one to bail.  But when I read the Trim Healthy Mama Plan book, it just clicked with me (it doesn’t for everyone, so don’t despair if it doesn’t click right away for you–keep pressing on) and away I went.  Now, it is second nature and I really can’ imagine eating any other way.  I don’t feel deprived of anything–though occasionally I think if I see another leaf of lettuce I may scream. <wink>

This post is going to wrap up my on-line journal of my personal journey.  I do plan on putting together another Top-10 list in the coming weeks though.  Mind you, it’s not the end of THM for me.  I’m not sure I could abandon it now that it’s such a part of the way I think about food.  But I’m suspecting that I am naturally moving toward maintenance mode and there won’t be significant changes to see or talk about.  I started this blog as a way for me to keep track of what was happening because I was convinced it wasn’t going to work for me and this way I could prove to all the THMers out there that it really wasn’t as simple as separate fats and carbs, and avoid refined carbohydrates/sugar.  Along the way, my focus shifted to sharing my journey to help encourage and inspire others.  It won’t be easy for everyone, and admittedly, I’ve had tough days.  Not where I want to give up THM but where I wondered if anything was changing.  I would just say the following prayer, “God, I’m trusting You.  You’re in control, and it doesn’t matter what the scale or tape measure says.”  Sometimes I prayed it through tears.  And an amazing thing happened.  My focus would move off of myself and THM and worrying about those things.  I didn’t give up.  I didn’t cave.  I didn’t stress/emotionally eat.  God give me the grace and power to just keep on keepin’ on knowing He had my back.